Living It Up is a 1954 film comedy starring the team of Martin and Lewis and released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Norman Taurog and produced by Paul Jones from a screenplay by Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson, based on the play Hazel Flagg by Ben Hecht, in turn based on the story Letter to the Editor by James H. Street. An earlier film, entitled Nothing Sacred, had been made in 1937 by Paramount with Carole Lombard and Fredric March, and directed by William A. Wellman. The 1954 version had original music by Walter Scharf, cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp, art direction by Albert Nozaki and Hal Pereira, and costume design by Edith Head.

The film also features Janet Leigh, Edward Arnold, Fred Clark, Sheree North, and Sig Ruman.

Plot

Homer Flagg (Jerry Lewis) is a railroad worker in the small town of Desert Hole, New Mexico. His big dream in life is to visit New York City while he is young. One day he finds an abandoned automobile at an old atomic proving ground. His doctor, and best friend, Steve Harris (Dean Martin) diagnoses him with radiation poisoning and gives him three weeks to live.

A reporter for a New York newspaper, Wally Cook (Janet Leigh), hears of Homer's plight and convinces her editor, Oliver Stone (Fred Clark), to give Flagg an all-expenses paid trip to fulfil his life-long fantasy of seeing New York City. Meanwhile, Harris realizes that he made an error and Flagg is only suffering from a sinus condition. Harris agrees to keep this new diagnosis a secret after Flagg begs him... and after he meets Cook. To cover the secret, Harris announces that only he can provide medical treatment to Flagg and he must accompany him on the trip.

New York City embraces Flagg and he becomes a celebrity, with everyone following his every move in the paper. He even makes plans to marry Cook, despite the fact that she has fallen for Harris. Meanwhile, Stone is anxious for Flagg to die, as every day it is costing the newspaper money to support Flagg's extravagant lifestyle, which includes ordering 3,000 shrimp cocktails for his hotel suite. He hires three specialists to examine Flagg, who give him a clean bill of health. To escape the situation that they have gotten themselves into, Flagg fakes his suicide and the newspaper gets the exclusive story. Cook marries Harris, and Harris and Flagg become street sweepers in New York City.

Production

It was filmed from October 19 - December 18, 1953 and is a remake of the 1937 film Nothing Sacred. Sig Ruman, who plays Dr. Emil Eggelhoffer, played the same role in the 1937 film Nothing Sacred.

Re-release

The film was re-released with another Martin and Lewis film, Pardners in 1965.

Trivia

• Janet Leigh went on to act in solo films with both Dean Martin (Who Was That Lady?) and Jerry Lewis (Three On A Couch).

Main cast

Actor	Role
Dean Martin	Steve Harris
Jerry Lewis	Homer Flagg
Janet Leigh	Wally Cook
Edward Arnold	The Mayor
Fred Clark	Oliver Stone
Sheree North	Jitterbug Dancer
Sammy White	Waiter
Sig Ruman	Dr. Emile Egelhofer
Richard Loo	Dr. Lee

DVD release

The film was included on an five-film DVD set, the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Collection: Volume Two, released on June 5, 2007.

External links